“I am,” he responded, smiling. It made the skin around his eyes crinkle.
Liz thought abruptly of pictures of Santa Clause and felt a deep longing for home and childhood. She had a feeling both those things were firmly in her past now, never to be seen again.
“Follow me,” the doctor said, gesturing for Liz to come closer.
“W-where are we going?” she asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.
“Don’t be afraid,” he continued. “I won’t bite?” He flashed her a grin that looked goofy and Liz laughed.
She walked a bit closer and he reached out, grasping her hand softly.
Liz tensed and tried to hide it. She knew she had to earn the trust of these people if she had any chance of escape. If they trusted her, maybe they’d leave the door unlocked and she could make her move. She forced a smile.
“That’s my girl,” the man spoke, chuckling. He led her from the room.
Later that Night
Liz lay in bed, completely covered by blankets. Her dinner sat untouched on the little table by the door. She’d had no appetite after what he’d done to her. There was a dull ache between her legs where Daddy once told her no one was allowed to touch. She reached her hand down and pulled it back; there was blood on her fingers, fresh and red. The doctor had been a liar. He did bite and pinch and put his mouth in places it did not belong. Liz burrowed more deeply beneath her quilt, sobbing and holding herself. She wished desperately for Raven and Henry. Liz imagined she was there with them now, holding Rocky and listening to Raven talk or Henry tell stories. Liz scrunched her legs more tightly into her stomach and felt a sharp pain that radiated from her groin to her abdomen. She moaned and held onto her shins, breathing shallowly.
Raven
“Raven watch out!” Henry yelled, quickly yanking his knife from a zombie’s skull. The zombie slid slowly sideways, partially propped up on the trunk of an elm tree, hands falling limply to its sides. Blood ran down its arm and dripped from the tips of its fingers, pooling on the ground.
“Crap!” Raven exclaimed, ducking out of the way of a pair of reaching hands.
The female zombie she’d dodged was totally nude and her large breasts jiggled back and forth. Raven pushed her away, expertly dodging the undead’s open maw. She sunk her axe in the woman’s skull, stopping her in mid action. The light ran out of her eyes and she went limp, crumpling to the ground.
“That was close, sis,” Henry called. He stood about twenty feet away, taking down the last zombie in the pack.
They had been driving all night, trying to cover as much ground as possible. Finding Liz’s trail had been a dead end. Henry had been able to follow the deuce and a half’s tracks for a while then they ran into a newly paved road. After that it was anyone’s guess which way the captors went. Disheartened, Raven and Henry had made their way toward the President’s second meeting, as it was only a few short days away. They didn’t know what else to do and thought that at least there would be other people there that might have seen a large army green truck and a little girl. Then they could continue their search for Liz.
“Sure as fuck was!” Raven responded, yelling over the distance. She wiped the congealed blood from her blade, cleaning it against the grass.
The ground was littered with the bodies of the undead. Piled in confused jumbles of decaying flesh. Raven stepped over the corpse of a young boy. He wore swimming shorts and had on a single water shoe. His torso was bare except for the tattered remains of his yellow shirt.
Rocky barked and Raven glanced at the truck. It was parked next to a large oak tree, out of the way of the melee. Her dog was staring at her from behind the glass, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. Raven could see the grey form of Neptune sitting on the dash, tail lashing. The kitten had taken an instant dislike to Monique and Raven approved heartily. In the intervening weeks since Liz was taken, she’d grown more and more exasperated with that woman. She was a selfish person who cared naught for anyone else. Raven would’ve left her behind long ago if it weren’t for Henry. Her brother, for reasons that Raven didn’t want to fathom, defended Monique.
“Damn him,” Raven muttered, staring at her through the dirty glass.
Monique raised her hand in a tentative wave and Raven turned away without responding.
“Come on,” she called to Henry. “Let’s keep moving.”
Her brother jogged toward her, smiling and brandishing his knife like a dork.
Raven laughed. “Hurry it up, fucker,” she said, smiling. “We’ve only got two days until the meeting.”
They had just turned onto Highway 7 when a herd of undead blocked their path. It had taken them half an hour to take them all down.
“Would’ve been faster with more help,” Raven muttered, thinking that Monique needed to pull her weight. Right now all she did was slow them down. Her desire to learn to fight hadn’t been sincere and she sure didn’t make her own way. Raven cursed under her breath.
“What’d you say?” Henry asked. Panting and sheathing his knife, he caught up with her. Monique had cut his hair last night so was short once more. The weather had stayed bitterly cold and dry for the last week or so and Henry wore Under Armour and a heavy wool coat that he often gave to Monique when she
